Dickson banks on accomplishments in Brewster election

As befits a social studies and government teacher (at Harwich High School) when John Dickson casts his thoughts back over his three-year term as Brewster selectman, he sees a work in progress.

Staff Reporter

As befits a social studies and government teacher (at Harwich High School) when John Dickson casts his thoughts back over his three-year term as Brewster selectman, he sees a work in progress.

“Three years ago my goal was to get more involved and work on town issues. That was not anything I thought I could do in three years – my goal was long term. The issues are ongoing. There is a lot more work to be done and continue with the progress we’ve made,” he reflected.

Dickson, who currently serves as chairman, is up for reelection May 20. He has an opponent, Madhavi Venkatesan of the finance committee, who was profiled in last week’s paper. Dickson moved to Brewster in 2001, married the same year, and now has four daughters aged 3 to 11.

One thing he wanted to do when elected was improve long-range planning.

“Now we use a five year financial outlook as a basis for policy and that has made a huge difference,” Dickson said. “Now we have a capital plan that we bring to town meeting. The golf department now has a 10-year plan laid out. We’ve made a lot of progress on the new firehouse; I hope to see that completed in the next three years. We should start discussing the council on aging and natural resources facilities. We’ve also created a government study committee to look at the long tern structure for the town. These are all major steps forward.”

He wanted to make government more understandable.

“Another issue I highlighted was increasing the openness and accessibility of government for citizens,” Dickson noted. “If someone wants to follow the selectmen’s meetings online, they have access to all the documents that we are using. The format of our meetings is clearer. As chairman I implemented a process where we have open discussion of future agenda items. All of that makes the procedures of the board more open and accessible.”

Dickson wanted to continue the board’s focus on environmental issues.

“We’ve done a lot of open space acquisition and that has made a difference particularly with water planning,” Dickson recalled. “Our outlook is much more positive than it is for some of our neighboring communities. We’ve spent millions on open space, as Mark Robinson of the Cape Compact of Conservation Trusts has said, but we’ve probably saved tens of millions in sewering and wastewater costs. And we’ve made progress with solar energy, even with Commerce Park falling by the wayside.”

Dickson recalled that when he was first elected the town was still considering wind turbines.

“We’ve moved past discussion of the wind turbine question and made progress reducing our dependence of fossil fuels for electricity,” he noted. “Also with pay-as-you-throw, we’ll soon see the six-month data point and the data looks very positive for reduced solid waste.”

Boosting local businesses is also a priority.

“I wanted to improve cooperation with the business community and improve the business climate in town. There is much more cooperation than there was three years ago. We’ve improved the special events process and when the state gets around to funding repairs on Route 6A we’ll have better sidewalks,” Dickson said.

All of the above is looking backwards, but a selectmen must envision the future as well.

“A lot of issues are ongoing,” Dickson reflected, “the comprehensive water plan, the fire house, the Eddy School roof project is important and the government study committee will be very important with its recommendations for town meeting and elections. What can we do to make participation easier?”

The most important decision may be hiring a new town administrator and Dickson said the government study could provide direction for that – whether the job should be redesigned or reformatted.

“That’s why we’re doing it,” Dickson declared. “We want to use this moment of transition to rethink what we are doing and what we consider the challenges.”

He certainly hops to win a second term.

“I absolutely love it. I love the town. There is no town quite like Brewster in terms of real community spirit. The town has a real positive direction and I’m proud to have been part of that for the past three years. I couldn’t imagine a more ideal place to raise a family. It’s kind of my ideal life, raising a family in Brewster and being involved with town government. It’s been a great experience for me.”